The Holy Roller, on 12/21/11 8:49pm, said:
Sounds good! I ordered the steak book (and two others that looked interesting). What are you going to feed your herd? How will you finish your beeves before slaughter and how big (weight) will your animals be when you slaughter them? I ask because I'm in the business and am always curious about others expectations.
One of the things that has come to my attention in all my reading is that good flavor is a function of age --- the older the cow, the better the "beefy flavor". However, if the cow is too old, it can get tough. However, one way to compensate for the toughness is to run a cow leaner in the winter, reducing his/her body condition, and then pop the condition on the huge amounts of grass that grow in the spring and very early summer --- a fast growing animal is a tender animal. Further, procesing in a no/low stress environment is key. There is some who believe that hanging a carcass by the hips (not the feet) allow the muscles to stretch more fully, thereby freeing up the enzymes that improve tenderness. And, lastly, dry-aging is important, but don't take it too far as you don't want mold to develop.
Now, as it regards feeding ... in all the blind taste-tests stuff I've been able to see ... plus the personal anecdotal evidence I have experienced ... tell me that grain-finished beef do not have as much "beefy flavor" as grass-finished. Being able to finish on grass is a function of management and stocking rates. Cattle thrived for centuries without feedlots, and they can today --- however --- not all breeds are well suited to finish on grass (and even some animals in some breeds are not well suited for grass finishing).
Before anyone thinks that "grass finished beef" is poor, it means you've had poor grass finished beef ... not that it can't be done.
BPW --- I doubt your Elk was grain finished, and as you said, "it was delicious".
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So, bottom line ... the objective is to harvest grass-finished beef between 18-24 months after birth (I'm expecting Aubrac and Aubrac-cross steers to be in the 1200-1400lb range at that age)... and to manage the herd on a very (VERY!) low-input model. High input models (which are generally focused on the color of the hide at the expense of all else) generally only enrich the vets, chemical sales people, the grain sales people, the feedlots and the sale barn ... and not the rancher who raises the cows.
And yes, I realize that this is not how most people do it. I also realize that many/most people in cattle get their butts handed to them (eventually), because (imo) they have too many fixed costs in their operation (medicine, grain, machinery, hay, etc.) to be able to sustain themselves through tough times. Besides, as a newer guy to raising cattle, the fewer things I need to worry about, the more likely it is that I'm not going to screw something up --- so, all I have to worry about is fencing, water, pasture rotation, and maybe a bit of irrigation.
...essentially, a cow converts sunshine into protein with the soil and grass as a medium through which it makes the conversion...so, healthy soil and grasses equal a calm, healthy, growing cow...who will be tasty on the table...
{sorry for rambing a bit}
What other books did you get? How do you run your operation?
Edited by muck, 22 December 2011 - 06:42 PM.
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